Eric Donavan
Eric Donavan (born August 8th, 1984),is an Irish-born professional wrestler who most recently wrestled under the name Roric Draygon, nicknamed 'The Guardian'. He is currently retired from the wrestling business. He has competed in the past for American Championship Wrestling (ACW), where he had two reigns as ACW World Heavyweight Champion, and the United Wrestling Alliance (UWA) where he competed in the first Champion's Cup Tournament. Before joining ACW, Eric trained under legendary Japanese wrestler Hiashi Shinsuma in amateur and professional wrestling as well as boxing and the martial arts. He made his first appearance in ACW on September 28th, 2008 and signed a contract the following week. He wrestled prominently for the company until his retirement following a neck injury on August 2nd, 2009. Early Life Eric Donavan was born to Aidan Melchior Donavan and Niamh Alisa Donavan in Dublin, Ireland on August 8th, 1984. An only child, he spent his life in Dublin until the age of 13 when he moved to the United States to stay with a few business partners of his parents to help set up a future site for the family business. However, before his parents could make the trip to California to join him, they were killed in a car accident. After this time, Eric lived with a few distant relations and attended high school and, for a brief time, college with past and current associates and rivals in ACW, including Aurelei and Monica Jamison and David Matthews. After an altercation with Matthews that resulted in the temporary dissolution of Eric's personal relationship with Aurelei, he spent some time recovering and then took on Hiashi Shinsuma as a trainer to eventually become a wrestler. Personal Life As denoted in his late parents' will, at the age of 18, Eric inherited his family's business, Combat Antiquities, Inc. This company specializes in the collection, display, education, restoration, sales and training in the use of and restoration of all manner of weapons and armor from countries all over the world as well as various time periods. Though the recognized head of the business, Eric chooses to let the board handle most details on the business's actions though he makes himself available whenever necessary or requested for matters of personal interest. Eric is also a trained chef, taking on a job as a cook during his in-ring training. He is the sole owner of his family's estate and ancestral home outside Dublin and also owns a home in Asheville, North Carolina where he lives with his girlfriend Aurora Jansen and the couple's Alsatian, Ares. Eric also owns a fully-restored 1968 Ford Mustang GT California Special which he did the work on himself, teaching himself as he went. Professional Wrestling Career (ACW) Eric Donavan's first ACW appearance, in which he went unnamed, came during an assault by then-and-current ACW World Heavyweight Champion 'The Fanged Entity' Snake on ACW Owner Sarah D'Angelo. He and Snake briefly brawled in the ring with both men escaping the other's moves before Snake left the ring with then-manager Faith 'Syren' Ingranno as Eric remained in-ring checking on Sarah D'Angelo. The week after, named as 'The Guardian' Roric Draygon, he was signed to a contract and offered a bonus by ACW Owner Sarah D'Angelo if he would "make Snake's life a living hell" to which he succinctly replied "I'll do that for free." A brief verbal confrontation between all three parties ensued where Sarah announced that Roric would be part of a three-way match the following week to decide Snake's next challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship. Later in the evening, Roric finished off his first ACW opponent, Greener, within three minutes with a Dragon Fang. Shortly after his first appearance, a hooded-and-veiled Aurelei Jamison, eventually naming herself as Phoenix, began appearing with Roric. Her interference in the three-way match between Roric, 'Dark Warrior' Jeff Christianson and Snake led to Roric being disqualified. Working his way up the ACW rankings, Roric was involved in a match at ACW's first pay-per-view, Hallow-Havok, to decide the first-ever ACW United States Champion, which he won by defeating 'The Runaway Train' Cole Blaze. This match led to a long-standing friendship and partnership with Blaze which reached its peak at the December pay-per-view Final Countdown where Roric and Cole, as Reign of Fire, became the first-ever ACW World Tag Team Champions. At Fall Fatale, Roric successfully defended the United States Championship, becoming the first champion in ACW to survive their first title defense, against Lucien Fell. Fell and Draygon have feuded extensively over both men's ACW tenure, with 'The Old Man of ACW' being one of only four people to defeat Roric cleanly. Due to interference from Snake in the midst of a two-fall match in which not only was Roric's United States title on the line but also a spot in the match to determine the first ACW World Tag Team Champions, Roric lost his title to 'Argent Dawn' Robin Mayfair after Snake hit 'The Guardian' with the Injection and forced Robin to make the pin. Roric had already won the first fall to put Reign of Fire in the World Tag Team Championship match against Frenzy, Hyena and Mike Voland, at Final Countdown. Also at Final Countdown, Roric faced Snake in their first-ever one-on-one contest with Snake's World Heavyweight Championship on the line. After pinning Roric, then-Commissioner Jack Marrow restarted the match and deemed that the only way Snake would be able to win was via submission. Attempting to cinch in the Constrictor, Snake nearly earned the win but Roric reversed the maneuver into an Asai DDT before hitting the Dragon Fang to earn his first ACW World Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, Snake was found beaten and bloody in the parking lot, and as the only other person on the scene, Roric was accused of being the perpetrator of the act. Suspended for three weeks during Sarah D'Angelo's investigation into the matter, he was unable to compete alongside Cole Blaze in Reign of Fire's World Tag Team Title defense against Frenzy at the January PPV, Declaration of War. As a result, Frenzy defeated Cole in a one-on-tag match to win the titles. At his return from suspension, Roric debuted new gear and entrance music, confronting the combined Compass of Order faction (Jack Marrow, 'The Great American Nightmare' Gryphon, Mike Voland, Hyena and Faith Ingranno), the perpetrators of the attack on Snake, and cleared the ring. Jack Marrow, left in the ring alone with Roric, was driven to the mat with a Dragon Bomb by the World Heavyweight Champion which resulted in multiple injuries. He has not been seen since. Shortly thereafter, ACW underwent an unexpected relaunch. Still the World Heavyweight Champion, Roric was stripped of the title for his attack on Jack Marrow by the ACW Board of Directors. He won the title back by facing the winner of a tournament to determine the new top contender to the title set up by the new General Manager, Snake. The winner of the tournament, Lucien Fell, took Roric to the limit but could not defeat 'The Guardian', leading to Roric becoming two-time World Heavyweight Champion. In a steel cage rematch against Fell, Roric retained his title. These results came despite attempted interference by Jeff Christianson, Hyena and Mike Voland both before and during said matches. After Cole Blaze was put out indefinitely by Hyena and Mike Voland, Roric challenged Hyena to the first-ever Sanitarium match at ACW Raining Blood in April, defeating 'The Destroyer' after hanging him through the roof of the cage with a steel chain around his neck. At Trial by Honor in May, Roric lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Snake in a no-disqualifcation Ironman match after inadvertent distractions by Aurelei Phoenix (Jamison). Afterward, Aurelei shocked ACW fans by siding with her brother Snake and battering Roric before throwing him into a car and setting it on fire. The following month, at Mercury Rising, Roric became involved in another brawl with Snake and in the process had his neck broken by the sadistic World Heavyweight Champion, which would eventually lead to him formally retiring from the ring on the August 2nd episode of Shockwave. Roric is set to participate in the ACW for Charity event in Las Vegas over the week of October 25th along with the entire ACW Roster. Gambling events including poker, roulette and blackjack will be played by roster members and others with the proceeds going to charities such as Animal Rescue and the Ribbons for a Cure Foundation. Most of these roster members will also be auctioning off authentic props used in the ring as well as posters, ring gear, title belts and other memorabilia. Professional Wrestling Career (UWA) Roric was invited to compete in the first-ever Champion's Cup tournament. Not seeded, he was set to compete in the first match against Orlando Ortega, the number-eight seed. In a hotly-contested match, Roric defeated the former AWA star with the Dragon Fang to move ahead in the tournament. In his second Champion's Cup match, Roric faced off in a classic against The Legendary Low. Despite taking the former 14-time World Champion to his limits, Low pulled off the victory and went on to the finals of the tournament. Since this match, Roric has not been seen in the UWA. Professional Wrestling Career (XWCWF) As an unnamed figure masked by the glare of headlights, Roric appeared at the October 6th Adrenaline show during an occurrence in where the then-XWCWF Tag Team Champions, the Prophecy (Jeff Christianson, X-Rated and Aaron Mason), interfered in a match involving The Exemplar (Hiashi Shinsuma and Damon Cross) and perpetrated vicious attacks on them. As the Prophecy tried to leave the arena, a car resembling Roric's '68 Mustang GT/CS roared into the parking lot. Standing in the middle of the headlights, he was naturally masked by the glare and blocked their path out of the arena while Hiashi and Damon approached from behind. He said "Now...it's even." and then the show went to black. Apparently having escaped the wrath of Draygon and The Exemplar, the feud continued between the Prophecy and Hiashi/Damon. On the October 14th episode of Adrenaline, where X-Rated would face Hiashi in singles action, Aaron Mason is left in the locker room by X-Rated and is assaulted by the white-hooded Roric after X-Rated heads out for his match, once again stating that "Now, things are even!" On the October 21st episode of Adrenaline, Jayson Price, looking to keep his job in the XWCWF, asks Zanatos Kell to give him another chance. Kell's response is to book him in a match against 'that guy who has been tormenting the Prophecy', i.e. Roric, and telling him that if he wins, he gets a new contract...but if he loses, he's out of the company. Price accepts. At Adrenaline on October 28th, Roric and Price square off in a swift, brutal contest that sees Roric, in his first match since ACW's Trial by Honor card in May, batter Jayson. An ill-timed attempt at going to the top rope by Price is blocked by Draygon. This causes Jayson to inadvertently tumble outside the ring hard and injure his neck, causing what appears to be temporary paralysis. The extent of his injuries are unknown. Despite this appearance and match, it remains to be seen whether or not Roric will remain with the XWCWF as a wrestler, whether he will serve as a manager to The Exemplar, or whether he has other plans altogether. In wrestling Finishing moves *''Dragon Fang'' (Superkick, using either leg regardless of opponent position) *''Dragon Bomb'' (Reverse full-nelson lift into a sit-out spinebuster) *''Dragon DDT'' (Springboard backflip into a reverse falling DDT) *''Irish Dragon Clutch'' (Hammerlock Dragon sleeper with bodyscissors) Signature moves *''Roaring Dragon'' (triple-rolling Dragon suplex) *''Vengeful Dragon'' (arm-capture belly-to-belly overhead suplex) *''Raging Dragon'' (leg-capture belly-to-belly overhead suplex) *''Screaming Dragon'' (full-nelson facebuster) *''Irish Crush'' (inverted atomic drop followed by a discus lariat) *''Irish Heat'' (hooks and body blows followed by a discus lariat) *''Irish Hangover'' (belly-to-belly sit-out piledriver) *''Mercy Driver'' (lifting belly-to-belly slam) With Cole Blaze as Reign of Fire : Finishing moves * Path of the Dragon (Simultaneous Dragon Fang (Roric) / legsweep (Cole) combination) *''Path of the Tiger'' (Simultaneous Collision (Cole) / leg drop (Roric) combination) Signature moves * Crushing Pressure (Simultaneous clotheslines followed by simultaneous jumping twisting enzuigiris on both sides of the opponent) *''Dealbreaker'' (STO (Cole) / spinning heel kick (Roric) combination) *''Spinal Shock'' (Over-the-shoulder gutbuster (Cole) / cutter (Roric) combination) * Meteor Shower (Eclipse (Cole) / flipping leg drop (Roric) combination) *''Downgrade'' (Reverse STO (Roric) / running neck snap (Cole) combination) *''Meteor Bomb'' (Springboard clothesline (Cole) / sit-out powerbomb (Roric) combination) *''Shattered Wings'' (Simultaneous jumping arm breakers followed by simultaneous Fujiwara armbars) : Managers *Aurelei Jamison *Aurora Jansen Nicknames *'The Guardian' *'Irish Dragon' Entrance themes *"Inside the Fire" by Disturbed (ACW) *"Thunder Kiss '65" by White Zombie (ACW, with Cole Blaze as Reign of Fire) *"Raining Blood" by Slayer (ACW, UWA) *"Phoenix" by The Butterfly Effect (ACW, UWA) *"I Will Fight Alone" by Firewind (ACW, XWCWF) : Championships and accomplishments : American Championship Wrestling * ACW World Heavyweight Champion (2 times) *ACW United States Champion (1 time) *ACW World Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Cole Blaze : United Wrestling Alliance *Champion's Cup quarter-finalist Awards *2008-'09 ACW Face of the Year *2008-'09 ACW Feud of the Year (with Snake) *2008-'09 ACW Match of the Year (with Snake, no-disqualification Ironman match at ACW Trial by Honor) :